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Virtual Fences And Smart Collars from Bozeman-based PERC at Wyoming’s Pitchfork Ranch Could Revive the Wild West Era Open Range
The Pitchfork Ranch is piloting technology that lets ranchers draw fence on a smartphone. The virtual fence reacts with collars the cattle wear. It’s working so well they say, fencing could disappear and bring back Wyoming’s Wild West era open range.
Anson is part of a virtual fence pilot program supported by a group of Wyoming wildlife and conservation groups who are working with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) out of Bozeman, Montana, to figure out whether virtual fences can help ranchers do away with old-fashioned fencing.
Right now, more than 620,000 miles of fenceline have turned the American West into a gauntlet as far as wildlife are concerned. Deer, elk and other animals can get hopelessly tangled up in the barbwire, dying a slow death of starvation if they’re unable to break free.
Virtual boundaries mean wildlife migration corridors are clear of such obstacles, and that cattle are elsewhere during that season.
Property and Environment Research Center (PERC)
The national leader in market solutions for conservation.
Because incentives matter for conservation.
The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) explores how aligning incentives for environmental stewardship produces sustainable outcomes for land, water, and wildlife.
